Outsider Animals
Audio only

Outsider Animals

How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach UsBy Marlene ZukNarrated by Marlene Zuk
Length7h 25m

About this audiobook

This audiobook narrated by Marlene Zuk provides an entertaining look at what raccoons, rats, and other animal intruders teach us about intelligence, adaptability, and ourselves When we think of animals that provide the greatest insights into animal cognition and behavior, primates and honeybees come to mind, or perhaps whales or octopus. What about the raccoons that plunder our rubbish at night, or the coyotes that threaten pets and livestock, or the gulls that divebomb for snacks at the beach? Outsider Animals challenges everything you thought you knew about the overlooked animals that live in proximity to humans, sharing the stories that each has to tell about adaptation and cohabitation on our increasingly crowded planet. Marlene Zuk gives us a new appreciation for the animals we often shun, explaining why these unpopular creatures have something special to teach us not only about the ways we deal with other species but about our own place in nature and what it means for an animal to belong somewhere. You will discover how coyotes and snakes shed light on our coevolution with predators, what cockroaches tell us about the evolution of pregnancy, how butterflies make us reconsider the effects of roadside pollution, how cowbirds and mynas are forcing ecologists to think differently about invasive species, and much more. Writing with an infectious blend of humor and curiosity, Zuk invites us to reflect on our relationships with these close-to-home creatures and the ways our lives encroach on theirs, and to draw lessons from their behavior in all its fascinating complexity.

Audiobook details

GenreScience and Nature
Length7 hrs 25 mins
Narrated byMarlene Zuk
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMar 17, 2026
LanguageEnglish

Table of contents

1Opening Credit
8Part III - Much More than Pests, Chapter 6 - Rats
2Introduction - What Are Outsider Animals?
9Chapter 7 - Cockroaches
3Part I - Clever Opportunists, Chapter 1 - Raccoons
10Part IV - Conduit to the Wild, Chapter 8 - Snakes
4Chapter 2 - Gulls
11Chapter 9 - Coyotes
5Part II - Invaders, Intruders, or Visitors?, Chapter 3 - Cowbirds (and a Little Bit of Cuckoo)
12Acknowledgments
Show all chapters
6Chapter 4 - Common Mynas
13End Credit
7Chapter 5 - Cabbage White Butterflies

You may also like

Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals
Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of AnimalsR. Mrs. Lee9h 32m$2 · $0.00
The Last Harvest
The Last HarvestJohn Burroughs6h 24m$1 · $0.00
Size
SizeVaclav Smil8h 43m$26 · $0.00
Scientific and Evolutionary Foundations of Morality – 4 Classic Moral Studies
Scientific and Evolutionary Foundations of Morality – 4 Classic Moral StudiesAlexander Bain, William Kingdon Clifford, Thomas Huxley, W. R. Sorley29h 21m$2
Chance, Love, and Logic
Chance, Love, and LogicCharles S. Peirce10h 9m$2 · $0.00
Three Lectures on Aesthetic
Three Lectures on AestheticBernard Bosanquet2h$2 · $0.00
Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex
Why Do Men Fall Asleep After SexMark Leyner, Billy Goldberg6h 32m$24 · $0.00
The Conduct of Life
The Conduct of LifeRalph Waldo Emerson7h 9m$2 · $0.00
Windfalls
WindfallsA. G. Gardiner6h 45m$2.30
Illustrative Anecdotes of the Animal Kingdom
Illustrative Anecdotes of the Animal KingdomSamuel G. Goodrich9h 49m$2.30
Popular scientific lectures
Popular scientific lecturesErnst Mach11h 9m$2 · $0.00
The Meaning of It All
The Meaning of It AllRichard P. Feynman2h 51m$12
The Sexual Evolution
The Sexual EvolutionNathan H. Lents13h 28m$33 · $0.00
Rousseau and Romanticism
Rousseau and RomanticismIrving Babbitt12h 36m$1 · $0.00
Popular scientific lectures
Popular scientific lecturesErnst Mach11h 3m$2 · $0.00
Rembrandt and His Works
Rembrandt and His WorksJohn Burnet4h 33m$1 · $0.00
The Hidden Habits of Genius
The Hidden Habits of GeniusCraig Wright10h 7m$29 · $0.00
Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work
Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And WorkSir P. Chalmers Mitchell7h 38m$2 · $0.00
The Critique of Judgment
The Critique of JudgmentImmanuel Kant16h 24m$2 · $0.00
Forest Trees of Illinois
Forest Trees of IllinoisRobert H. Mohlenbrock4h 57m$1 · $0.00